APN/Peace Now in the News: August 17-26, 2016

In 2009, Israel arrested the head of the northern branch of Israel’s Islamic Movement for incitement, for
saying that Israel “seeks to build a synagogue on Al-Aqsa Mosque.” Since then – and especially over the past two
years, as unrest has rocked Jerusalem – Netanyahu has regularly argued that Palestinian Authority incitement over the Temple Mount
is a chief cause of violence, and has called Palestinian officials’ statements about Israel’s
intentions on the Temple Mount “gross lies.”

Earlier this month, on August 14-15, Jews observed the fast day of Tisha B’Av, commemorating various catastrophes
that have befallen the Jewish people, including the destruction of the first and second temples. Israel’s Deputy
Defense Minister, Eli Ben-Dahan, marked this solemn occasion by telling a crowd gathered for a march around the Old City: “We aren’t embarrassed to say
it: We want to rebuild the Temple on the Temple Mount.”

Israel National News: August 24
“Peace Now ‘slanders’ activists over Hevron
construction,” discusses Peace Now’s campaign against Jewish construction in Hebron, which features “MK Orit
Strok (Jewish Home) and right-wing activists Baruch Marzel and Bentzy Gopstein in cartoon profiles accompanied by
the tagline: "He who established 28 housing units in the heart of Hevron wants to perpetuate the conflict and fan
the flames in the most sensitive and explosive area of the West Bank."

Maan News: August 23
“Peace Now: New settlement will add 100 more Israeli
settlers in Hebron,” details Peace Now’s response to the announcement of settlement expansion in Hebron. “While
Peace Now reported on Monday that the renovations for the housing units were already underway, the statement on
Tuesday said the planning process for the new settlement had not yet begun in the Israeli Civil Administration's
High Planning Committee.”

Associated Press: August 22
“Israel
takes steps toward new settlement in volatile city,” Settlement Watch’s Hagit Ofran says the approval of
settlement expansion in Hebron is “the first approval in the area in more than a decade,” and is an example of
Israel “using legal acrobatics, allocating the land to settlers instead of turning it over to the Palestinian-run
municipality.”

Washington Jewish Week: August 17
“Closed doors
for Israel aid package,” Yossi Alpher’s weekly Q&A column for APN is quoted in a story about the US aid
package to Israel. Alpher says that Netanyahu cut Lieberman out of the process in reaction to the Defense
Minister’s comparison of the Iran deal to the 1938 Munich Agreement as a way to coalition tensions and reaffirm the
US-Israel security relationship.